Hide

The book I received was supposed to be very good condition. This book not only wasn't the edition it said it was with a different cover, but it actually had two covers. The original paperback had no back to it and the cover was barely hanging on. They took a second cover and put it in over the top like a folder. This book is in pretty rough shape and would never call it "very good condition".

I really liked how they moved the characters and shifted them to the way you’re able to follow and to see how they have grown! Now onto book 3!

This is a psycho suspense/mystery novel. Discovery of human remains in a secret chamber reopens cold cases from 25 years earlier. A pedophile had been kidnapping and killing young girls. Now the cases have become hot as a special police task force works to identify both the victims and the killer. When you turn over stones you don't know what you might find, and people come forward with information that has been hidden for various reasons. Not everyone is who they seem to be, and there are some surprises. This is a well written story that holds your attention, but perhaps is not for the faint of heart. It deals with adult situation and contains violence, with some language to match the situation, and some sex by reference.

First Sentence: My father explained it to me the first time when I was seven years old. Massachusetts state police detective Bobby Dodge is called to a Boston PD crime scene. Sergeant D.D. Warren and her team are on the grounds of the closed and crumbling Boston State Mental Hospital. There has been found an underground room containing the bodies of six young girls. One thing they release to the press is the name of one of the young girl's based on a locket they found. Since she was seven years old, Annabelle's father has moved their family from place to place, always taking new identities but with Annabelle never knowing why. Now, with both her parents dead, Annabelle has come back to Boston, where she started. When she reads the story in the news, she realizes the locket was hers and one of the bodies was the best friend she's given it to. Lisa Gardner is an author who deserves much more notice than she receives. The lady knows how to write suspense with a human touch. Her characters are strong and fully dimensional, down to the members of the team; one of which as a new baby and another whose mother is dying. Her writing is atmospheric; you see the people on the train, and feel the closeness of the underground room. The story flows and builds taking the reader along on the investigation. You think you know where it's going and who the villain is, but you're not certain and then Gardner reveals a new element to keep you off balance. The ending does rather come at you out of no where but it always explains the reason for the family's moves. To introduce it sooner would have completely spoiled the suspense. "Hide" was a very good, fast read.

Lisa Gardner sold her first novel when she was just 20 years old. In 1993 she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in international relations. She lives in New Hampshire. She has now written a string of novels that have been extremely well received by the reading public. Annabelle has had many names in her life, but she never knew why. Her father had moved her from city to city from the age of ten, changing names and addresses, careers, but Annabelle never knew what they were running away from. Now in her thirties and with both parents dead Annabelle has settled in Boston, but she is still nervous when she leaves home. She still tries to blend into a crowd. Then, one day a multiple grave is discovered at the State Mental Hospital. It contains six young girls left there to die in an underground chamber decades ago, while their captor looked on. When Annabelle's true name appears in the paper wrongly identifying her as one of the dead girls, she finally realises that this was the work of the monster her father was running away from. But the killer is still on the loose after all this time and he is looking for her . . .

Lisa Gardner's work is most easily classified within the thriller genre. But in her new novel, she infuses a solid, complex mystery into the plotline, nicely balancing excitement --- make that terror --- with whodunit elements to create a work easily accessible to fans of any genre. HIDE is much more than a nominal sequel to ALONE; it is a deliciously creepy tale that begins with a crime scene so startling and horrific that it resonates throughout the book. HIDE marks the return of Massachusetts State Police Detective Bobby Dodge and his former partner, Boston Police Detective D.D. Warren. Despite Dodge's newly minted position, Warren brings him into a Boston investigation. The crime scene --- a vision of nightmares that will shut you down --- is reminiscent of the Richard Umbrio case that figured so prominently in ALONE. As the result of evidence found at the current scene, one of the victims is tentatively identified as Annabelle Granger. Thus, Dodge and Warren are baffled when a woman shows up in their office and identifies herself as Granger. She relates the story of a life lived on the run, with her family changing residences and identities on an annual basis, crisscrossing the country as if being pursued by an omnipresent, unknown tracker. Dodge and Warren's investigation is further complicated by the fact that Granger bears an uncanny, startling resemblance to Catherine Gagnon, who as a child was one of Umbrio's kidnapping victims. Gagnon grew up into an exotic, enigmatic lady who may have manipulated Dodge into shooting her husband. Another issue is the slowly blossoming, if reluctant, attraction between Dodge and Granger. Dodge struggles with the impropriety of a relationship with a subject he is charged with protecting, and possibly investigating. Granger finds that she is experiencing emotions long gone cold, if ever felt at all. Gardner keeps the plot wheels slowly but steadily moving toward a cataclysmic conclusion that ties up the apparently irresolvable plotlines with a plausible and unpredictable explanation. While built upon the foundation of ALONE, HIDE stands firmly on its own. Primarily character driven --- the crime scene at the beginning is over two decades old, and most of the violence in the book is confined to one scene --- HIDE is part puzzle, part romance and all good. Don't miss this one. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Here's a suspense novel that lives up to the word. Bobby Dodge and D.D. Warren, the two main cops in Gardner's series, are called to the grounds of a mental hospital where a grim discovery has been made--the secret underground lair of a long-ago serial killer of little girls. The hospital was closed years ago, and the killer was never caught. The gruesome evidence in the bunker includes an old locket on the remains of one victim. The name on the locket is Annabelle Mary Granger. Imagine their surprise when a grown woman arrives at their police station, claiming to be the owner of the locket! That's just the beginning of this gripping mystery, and believe me, things are going to get even more exciting. (Did I mention that the killer was never caught?) This is the first book I've read by Lisa Gardner, and she has a new fan. If you love thrills and chills as much as I do, lock the door and bolt the windows and settle in for a fascinating read. But remember--there's nowhere to HIDE.